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Sports Authority curtails perks

Board members get to keep their Bucs tickets. But in the luxury suite, crab cakes are out; hot dogs are in.

By BILL VARIAN
Published April 19, 2005

TAMPA - Tampa Sports Authority members will continue to receive the same number of free football tickets to a luxury suite at Raymond James Stadium.

What they won't get anymore is free booze, beef tenderloin and crab cakes on the taxpayer dole. Now they'll be chowing on hamburgers and hot dogs.

And each board member will be asked to chip in $100 a year to cover beer and wine, plus pay for any hard liquor on their own.

Board members voted on the matter Monday after months of study. They had been poised to cut out food altogether, after initial debate. But Vincent Marchetti suggested the compromise, saying he offers guests beer and wine when he invites them to his house to watch ballgames.

"I just think it was maybe going a little bit too far" to cut out alcohol altogether, he said.

The efforts follow a series of stories last year in the St. Petersburg Times that detailed perks offered to members of the volunteer board. The Sports Authority oversees operations at Raymond James Stadium, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, and at three city golf courses.

The Times examination showed that each board member receives two tickets to each Bucs game and two more tickets to at least two other games. The tickets last season were valued at $457 apiece, and many of the board members have used dozens in the past three years.

Additionally, the board members and guests often ring up food bills that top $1,000 a year, dining on fine cuisine and premium liquor.

Under an agreement with the Sports Authority, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers provide the luxury suite, which seats up to 34 people, free of charge. Because the authority loses money each year, the food bill falls to taxpayers.

"I find it interesting that (serving on) this board is now going to have a cost instead of it being a volunteer board," said authority member Patrick Manteiga, who said afterward that he supported getting rid of the alcohol and sharply curbing the number of tickets given to board members.

Manteiga was on the subcommittee of board members that conducted a review of what other stadiums run by governments permit. Most provide alcohol and free tickets.

Still, he said, the public apparently considers the perks too sweet for volunteer work. He said it was clear from Monday's debate that there was little interest in limiting tickets.

He wanted each board member to get a pair of tickets to only one game. Remaining tickets would go to citizens who either do work on behalf of the community or might not otherwise be able to attend a game.

"We went up the ladder rather than down the ladder," Manteiga said.

Manteiga, Hillsborough Commissioner Jim Norman and Kalyn Brandewie voted against giving board members the tickets they currently get. Two board members, Bruce Samson and Al Barnes, were absent.

One new rule: Board members must attend the game if they invite a guest; otherwise, their ticket will go into a pool to be given away to citizens. The Sports Authority still must determine how to choose invitees. In the past three years, people from the community have been invited with no set guidelines, with some elected officials getting tickets repeatedly.

Board members present voted to ban giving away alcohol at other Sports Authority events, such as spring training baseball games at Legends Field, and for the Outback Bowl and University of South Florida college football games at Raymond James.

Manteiga and Brandewie opposed the $100-a-year alcohol fee for board members. Both supported letting members and their guests buy alcohol on their own, like most fans at Bucs games.

Brandewie said she was going to support having each board member get tickets to half of the games instead of all of them.

"But now that we're paying ..."

Her voice trailed off.

[Last modified April 19, 2005, 01:19:14]